Schizophrenia and contact with health and social services: A Nordic multi-centre study

Abstract

Contact with physicians working in the mental health services was much more common than contact with GPs. Based on a broad spectre of demographic, clinical and network variables, it was not possible to find models that explained substantial parts of the variance of service use. Patterns of contact were different in rural, town and city-surroundings, and with the exception of psychotherapy, the rural pattern was characterized by use of less specialized services. The importance of health needs and diagnosis as predictors of contact illustrate the profound and lasting effects on health of having a diagnosis of schizophrenia.